On to Kansas City

Wednesday

Mar 6, 2013 at 10:30 AM

Truman State defeats Southwest Baptist, 65-56, to advance in the MIAA Tournament

Ryan Ronan @RyanRonan_KDE

KIRKSVILLE: With 14 minutes to play in their game against the Southwest Baptist Bearcats, Truman State held a 14-point lead and looked they were going to hit cruise control on their way to Kansas City.

However, a 13-2 run by SBU cut that 14-point lead to just three with over 5:30 to play. TSU would rebuild their lead to as many as 10 and is going to make the trip to KC after a 65-56 win.

Coming out of halftime SBU cut the Truman lead to three with just under 16 minutes left, from there TSU went on a 13-2 run to gain a 14 point advantage which was the largest lead of the game. Becka McHenry helped lead the Bulldogs run as she scored four straight points on two free throws and a layup. Amy Briggs and Allie Norton got hot from the outside and each knocked down a three ball, and Jennifer Conway added another Truman layup.

SBU was unable to come all the way back from the large deficit.“We hit a couple big buckets and knocked down some open threes. I felt like we did a tremendous job of getting the 50-50 balls. You have to give SBU a lot of credit, they fought back hard,” said Truman State head coach Michael Smith.

Truman had hit the skids a little since their early season success. The ladies were only 3-3 in their last six games prior to Tuesday night’s game.

“It goes through your head a little that this could be your last game, but that is part of the pressure that makes the postseason fun,” said McHenry.

As wide open and free flowing as the second 20 minutes was, the first was a slow, grind-it-out game if there ever was one. TSU shot only 43 percent from the floor in the first half and SBU was worse than that at 39 percent. Truman took a 27-23 lead to the half, as they were able to hit a couple big three-point shots in the last minutes of the half.

“It was just two teams pressing because they knew there was a lot on the line. I’m just glad that our kids competed because I feel they didn’t compete very well in our last game at Northwest Missouri, so I was just happy for our effort,” said Smith.

Another huge difference between this game and Truman’s game on Saturday was the play of the Bulldogs post players, and in particular Jennifer Conway. Against the NWMSU Bearcats, Conway failed to register a point. Against the SBU Bearcats she had 16.

“I feel like the difference in the game was our post presence, which we talked about before the game. Both offenses revolve around the post, even though we have really good guards. I think Jennifer Conway was the difference for us tonight the way she showed up and gave us a presence in the paint,” said Smith.

This was Truman’s seventh straight win over Southwest Baptist. The win also gives the TSU women’s program their third straight trip to Kansas City for the MIAA Tournament, something that hasn’t been done sine 1997-99.“It’s just a great honor. I’m extremely happy for our players and our seniors, this will be their third trip. I’m happy for our young kids because it’s a tremendous arena and environment to play in,” said Smith.

The slide that Truman went on late in the season dropped the Bulldogs to the No. 5 seed, and forced them to play a first-round game before playing in the quarterfinals in KC. They will take part in those quarterfinals on Friday afternoon when they face the No. 4 seed Emporia State Hornets, TSU beat ESU 78-58 at Pershing Arena earlier this season in their only meeting. The Lady Hornets ended the Bulldogs season last year in KC and the TSU players haven’t forgotten about that.

“It’s just going to come down to preparation and how bad we want it. We know we can be the better team,” said McHenry.

The winner of the 4 vs. 5 game will play Saturday against the winner of the 1 vs. 9 game, which pits Washburn against Northwest Missouri.